Slater & Gordon Family Law Solicitors
Contents About Us 3 Divorce, Separation & Civil Partnership Dissolution 4 Children Matters 4 Finances 5 Cohabitation Issues 6 International Divorce 6 Domestic Abuse 7 Pre-Nuptial Agreements & Post-Nuptial Agreements 8 Alternative Dispute Resolution 8 Islamic Family Law 9 Wills & Estate Planning 10 Property 10
Every family is unique, as is every divorce. With one of the largest family law teams in the country providing advice across all aspects of family law, Slater & Gordon will be able to find you the right solicitor whatever your needs. We are able to draw upon a wealth of experience when handling your case. Any concerns or issues involving financial affairs no matter how complex, children matters, international interests or business affairs can be dealt with effectively and efficiently, securing a resolution to any family dispute. Page 3
Divorce, Separation & Civil Partnership Dissolution Children Matters We know that divorce often involves high emotions, especially when there are children involved. Our team are sensitive to your needs during this difficult time, and work with you to resolve your divorce with compassion and efficiency. Whether you are having issues securing a child through adoption or surrogacy, or disagreements about residence and contact with children our team will guide you through your options and help you obtain the best possible outcome, whether it be through amicable negotiations, or court proceedings. Our children team are experts in: Children law & finances Contact arrangements Residence/Shared Residence Orders Adoption & surrogacy law Parental responsibility International children issues, including abduction Issues surrounding your child s upbringing (religion, education and medical treatment.) Our specialist children team also have significant experience in Schedule 1 Children Act claims and child abduction. Schedule 1 Children Act Claims When a relationship breaks down and you have children, in addition to maintenance from the CMS, you can also seek other financial support such as provision of a property, payments of cash and school fees. Our family law team can advise you on maximising the financial support for your children. Page 4
Finances Parental Child Abduction Sadly, when a couple separates and either parent has overseas connections, the abduction of a child to another country can happen. This is a very complex area of law which requires immediate and expert legal assistance. Our experts in this field have built links with lawyers and agencies overseas who can assist in this area and provide the urgent action required. Dividing matrimonial assets can be a complex business. Our family law team has the depth and breadth of knowledge to handle any financial matter, no matter how complex. Whether you have property aboard, business interests, pensions or inherited assets, we have the expertise to advise you fully so that you can make an informed decision as to how your assets should be dealt with upon separation. Page 5
Cohabitation Issues International Divorce Unmarried couples who live together are known as cohabitees. Cohabiting couples have nothing like the rights and obligations that couples who are married or have entered into a civil partnership have. The law is also entirely different when it comes to property, both before purchasing a property and after separation. Our team has the knowledge and expertise to deal with these types of claims, as well as being able to advise you before purchasing a property so that you can be sure your interests are properly protected. Cohabitation agreements are increasingly popular for couples who chose to live together, and not marry. Cohabitation Agreements can record each partner s financial position, and provide a framework as to what the couple would like to happen upon relationship breakdown to avoid potential disputes in the future. Our team will advise on the cohabitation issues you should consider, where you stand legally; and how a court would view your arrangements. If you are part of an international couple, we can advise you on the many matters that need to be considered before starting divorce proceedings, such as: The possible countries where you or your spouse could start divorce proceedings Whether it would be financially advantageous for you to divorce in one country rather than another Overseas living and contact arrangements with children Ensuring enforcement of overseas arrangements or court orders. Our family law team have extensive experience assisting clients with international elements in their family legal problems and have close links with international lawyers and organisations who can help. Page 6
Domestic Abuse Domestic abuse, whether physical or emotional, can affect anyone, from any walk of life; men or women. Abuse and violence can take many different forms, and people are often scared of reporting incidents or taking a stand. Our team has extensive experience in dealing with these difficult cases robustly, whilst offering support and reassurance. We can advise you on the range of options available to deal with unwanted harassment or violence, and how best to obtain protection for you and your family. Where necessary, we can issue applications for urgent injunctions on your behalf. Page 7
Pre-Nuptial Agreements & Post-Nuptial Agreements Alternative Dispute Resolution Page 8 Pre-Nuptial Agreements If you are planning to get married we can prepare a pre-nuptial agreement for you and advise you on maximising its effect and on other steps you could take to protect your assets should your marriage sadly come to an end. A pre-nuptial agreement might be particularly relevant for you if you have significantly more assets than your future spouse, if you wish to ensure your assets pass to your children, or simply if you wish to have some degree of certainty on what the financial outcome would be if your relationship breaks down. Post-Nuptial Agreements A post-nuptial agreement is entered into after marriage whereby you and your spouse will provide financially for the other. A post-nuptial agreement can be altered by a court if and when you and your spouse divorce. While we cannot guarantee that a post-nuptial settlement will be upheld in its entirety, we can ensure that it is prepared so that you have the best possible chance of it being upheld. We can prepare a pre-nuptial agreement for you and advise on maximising its effect should your marriage sadly come to an end. Mediation Mediation is an alternative to court proceedings for couples who are separating. It can help you sort out assets, finances and care arrangements for your children without the cost, stress and delay of going to court. Our mediators are also experienced family lawyers. That means they can help you reach agreement and provide impartial legal information that helps you make better, longer lasting decisions. Collaborative Law Collaborative law is a series of meetings attended by you, your partner and your respective collaboratively trained family lawyers, in which the four of you reach solutions to all issues arising from your separation. Your collaborative lawyer will provide you with advice and guidance during the meetings and outside of these. Other professionals, such as financial advisers, can be involved in the process to assist in reaching an agreement. At Slater & Gordon we have several collaboratively trained solicitors who would be glad to talk to you more about the process. Arbitration Arbitration is a private process where our arbitrator will consider the views of you and your former partner in a dispute and make a decision (called an award) to resolve it. The decision is binding on you and can be enforced in court if necessary. Both you and your partner need to agree to the arbitration process in advance and it can be much quicker than the court process.
Islamic Family Law We are the first UK firm to provide Sharia Law compliant family law advice. Our specialist team regularly advise on issues involving complicated and often international elements of Talaq and Khullah (Islamic Divorce). We are also able to deal contemporaneously with the civil (UK) aspects of your divorce to provide a holistic resolution. We work with trusted Sharia compliant experts including Sharia Councils, national and international Muslim organisations to get the best solution for your family law needs. Page 9
Wills & Estate Planning Property Our specialist wills and estate planning team advise families and individuals in relation to their succession planning, will drafting and lifetime trusts, from the simple to the highly complex and including preparing Lasting Powers of Attorney. We administer a number of family trusts both as professional trustees and on behalf of lay trustees. Within our Probate services, we undertake estate administration in both straightforward estates and more complex estates, involving business assets and issues of domicile and foreign assets. We pride ourselves in our specialist knowledge with a number of lawyers in the department qualified members of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners. The conveyancing team at Slater & Gordon understand buying or selling your home can be a daunting process, and pride themselves ensuring the transaction runs as smoothly and as stress free as possible. They are able to advise on all property transactions following a relationship breakdown and deal with all aspects of residential Freehold and Leasehold conveyancing, including remortgaging, transfers of equity and equity release schemes. Page 10
For more details please: Telephone: 0808 175 8089 E-mail: enquiries@slatergordon.co.uk Website: slatergordon.co.uk/family
Slater & Gordon is one of the UK s leading and largest legal practices with offices throughout England, Wales and Scotland. Slater & Gordon has joined forces with the nationally renowned Pannone Solicitors. Our combined experience enables us to provide our clients with the best possible outcomes for their personal legal matters. For more details please: Telephone: 0808 175 8089 E-mail: enquiries@slatergordon.co.uk Website: slatergordon.co.uk/family Slater & Gordon is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for insurance mediation activity. The information in this brochure was correct at the time of going to press March 2014.